Find something truly riveting and important that cannot be done while smoking.
It took me ten years, and turned out to be raising my daughter alone.
Obviously, this is not something that is possible to everyone, but I didn’t have the chance to realize that part of the stress was not smoking, and I just didn’t have the opportunity.
Well, back from the doctor and my blood pressure was 140 over 100 today. Better than before I quit smoking and should not stop me from getting my shoulder surgery which I badly need. Doctor was very happy to hear that I quit smoking.
So moving in the right direction. I’m on the 4th day of the quit and moving along. My riveting and important thing I have to do right now is handle my shoulder. That was enough to get me to raise my necessity to the point of quitting in the first place, so I am not going to fuck that up by starting up again. And by time the surgery and recovery is doing, I’ll have been off cigarettes for a month and I can’t imagine I’d want to go back at that point.
Dude, any cigarette that has been put out and re-lit is disgusting. If it has been in that ashtray for a few hours, it is even worse. 
My point is that it’s not something you would normally consider doing and would look at as kind of gross if you saw someone else doing it.
Amen, brother!
Good news. Glad you are succeeding and good luck with the surgery. Keep us posted.
And for those who quit and didn’t notice a change to the sense of smell: I didn’t notice that for several years after I quit. Then, one day my cat jumped up next to me on the bed and breathed in my face. OMG!! Tuna Breath! So getting your sense of smell back is somewhat a mixed blessing.
Mine seems to be coming back a bit already – some people on the subway sure smell funny! :eek: Hmm, stale smoke over here, stale pot over there (yuck!), and you…you just smell weird…
You dont’ ever want to go back, and you won’t ever want to.
The addict inside? He’ll always want to. The trick is to make sure he stays in a permanent coma.
You know what’s really funny? When I started smoking it was because I was having cravings when other people were smoking. But I had never smoked before, so why would I have cravings? Turns out that my parents used to smoke and quit sometime when I was a kid. Possibly got some nicotine real young and the monster wanted more!
Today has been a little rough on wanting a smoke, but not unbearable. Just gotta keep the final goal in mind. 
3 1/2 days and counting…
Today has been a little rough on wanting a smoke, but not unbearable. Just gotta keep the final goal in mind. 
3 1/2 days and counting…
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Good for you! I gotta tell ya though, it may get a little tougher in the next few days…
At least it was for me. I just got tired of being strong and gave in to my own little internal pity party. I don’t tell you this to rain on your parade, but just to let you know that you MAY experience something similar. For me, days 8-12 were harder than the first 7. But day 13 was a breeze (in comparison) and I’ve never looked back. Stay strong Doc. You will be so much happier and healthier.
Thanks. I think one difference yesterday is that I didn’t take any vitamin supplements and I got real run down. I think I am going to keep on with the vitamins until things start to normalize a bit more. Seems that my body is wanting the extra vits right now.
I think I tried smoking once when I was a teen. But I have dreams where I am smoking, and I wake up wanting a cigarette. :eek:
My father smoked until I was sixteen. Which is when he had his first bypass surgery. Which is why I never smoked but that one cigarette.
Not true for everybody, or for all colds, unfortunately. I’ve never smoked, and colds for me often end in a lingering cough.
Even if your steak dinner doesn’t taste any different, you can at least think, “I’m spending the money I would have spent on cigarettes on this”, and worry less about the expense of the steak dinner.
I’ve never smoked, but I do get food cravings. I read a book on ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and learned a technique from it that I find helpful when food cravings hit. You mentally step back from the craving, and say to yourself, “I notice that my mind is craving whatever-it-is” (nicotine in your case, various kinds of food in mine). Don’t get into the craving and think how nice it would be to have whatever it is you’re craving. Instead, just kind of watch the craving in your mind. It will go away eventually, all mental states do.
Interesting technique. Might be worth a try. I tend to trigger on situations where I would normally light up, so I have to be vigilant during those times – of course I don’t have any cigs or a lighter anymore, so it is not so hard to do. But I guess I am mentally expecting the cigarette so it is a little jarring when none comes.
Hooray!
Your neat thread here has booted my arse to stop smoking. Also because I really am too strapped for cash to justify it any longer, and even a light half pack daily habit is $90 a month.
Hour 16 and counting, meself
Thanks.
This is AWESOME!!!
Ok everyone who has been following my thread, rachelellogram has her own thread open now and is going to need some support as well!! So let’s cheer her on!!!
GO RACHELELLOGRAM GO!!!
Yay! Keep it up! 
Hey, who knows, maybe we’ll get a bunch of SDMBers to stop smoking.
Great thread.
I would like to thank all the people who contributed to the thread and helped me out. To anyone else who wants to quit and wants help, there are tons of great people on the SDMB who will help you out. It has helped me tremendously!!
The doctor is always right!
Thanks for the shout-out. It really helps to have a mini support group. I think the hardest part is driving around in my car and having nothing to do with my hands. Well, other than steering. But driving is the big cig-trig (trigger) for me.
Keep in mind you’re healing from years of poisoning and burning yourself! Seriously. You will be going through all kinds of adjustments.
I had a long string of colds for the first year after I quit, and I have what I think is an excellent theory for why: smoking burned out all the cilia in my nasal passages, which are the first line of defense against cooties. But, while I smoked, the smoking itself, with the poison and the heat, killed the cooties that would otherwise gotten a foothold.
So when I quit smoking, I had no form of defense, no cilia, no poisonous heat. So the cooties went a little nuts while my cilia regrew. But, fortunately, since I wasn’t smoking, the colds came and went pretty fast and painlessly, for the first time in 26 years, and since that first year I’ve gone back to one cold every 24 months or so.
Yep, that is one of the problems with smoking - kills everything, good or bad! I definitely feel better having taken vits today. I guess the rebuilding process is in progress now. Just gotta make it through the weekend next, which is it’s own trick.
So far me, Rachelellogram and BangTheDrum have quit smoking in the past week. Anybody else wanna come aboard the wagon with us? We’re having fun! 
5 days, 4 hours, 46 minutes since I last smoked!! I have saved $21.84 by not smoking 72 cigarettes. I have already saved 13 hours and 20 minutes of my life by not smoking. 